The Flower That Blooms In Our Hearts
by Ducky the most evil Swimmer
Summary: This story follows the formation of the Super Peace Busters with a twist: Menma survives her accident! How are group dynamics going to develop among the six children? Will they be able to sort out their conflicting emotions or are the Super Peace Busters going to break apart even with Menma alive?
1. Chapter 1

**Read the description below first :)**

* * *

**Prologue:**

"Dinner is ready!"

"Haaaaaiiii!"

Yadomi Jinta ran down the stairs as his mother's voice rang through the house, a wonderful smell filling his nostrils.

"Mhmm, curry!" Dinner was ready and, as always, it was something really good since it was a sunday. But not just any sunday, no. It was the last day before he would finally enter school.

Jinta wore a smile as he raced into the kitchen just in time to see his mother preparing large portions of curry for everyone - his father, his mother and him of course (his portion was a tad smaller). Anticipating his mother's cooking arts, the young boy sat down on the table.

He was a lively and outgoing 6-year old with black, messy hair and usually seen with a happy face. He was very good at sports and liked going outside to play.

"Ikadakimasu!" the family spoke in unison before they all started to eat. As Jinta dug into the curry (it was yummy), he thought about the coming day - his first day at school. He could hardly wait for it to arrive; just thinking about it made him all excited and he had no idea how he was supposed to sleep this night.

"Excited about tomorrow, Jinta?" his father mentioned casually as he cast a glance over to the boy.

"Of course!" Jinta beamed, a big grin on his features. "I can't wait to make lots of friends and have tons of fun!"

"Oh, I'm sure that you will," his mother spoke softly with a kind smile though it also held a small bit of seriousness. "Don't forget though that school is primarily about learning stuff."

"I know, mum, I know," Jinta giggled. "I bet that'll be fun as well!"

"I certainly hope so for you, Jinta," his mother said, playfully going through the little boy's messy hair which made him laugh.

"Mum, stop that, hahahaa."

"Make sure to take a bath and wash yourself before you go to bed, Jinta," she said in clear amusement.

"Gotta look nice on your first day, right?" his father added with a witty smile.

"Yep!" Jintan agreed, after all he wanted to make a lot of friends and appearance was important when making first impressions.

Later that day, a clean and full Jinta was looking out of the window of his room on the 1st floor of their little house after packing his bag with notebooks, pencils and various supplies.

_"I really can't wait to meet new friends tomorrow!"_ he thought happily, looking at the sky for a while until tiredness finally overcame him. With a smile, Jinta settled down for the night and fell asleep fast.

* * *

"Naruko, have you packed your bag yet?"

The little girl perked up. She was in her room, reading a manga when the voice of her mother coming from the room nextdoor reminded her of something.

_"Crap, school starts tomorrow and I haven't even packed my stuff yet!"_

"I-I'm on it!" Anjou Naruko quickly threw the manga volume into a corner and began to assemble all the things they had bought for her entrance into school, though not without some resent. She would have liked to continue reading the manga, obviously, but the girl supposed that she'd get into trouble on her first day if she didn't bring everything she needed and that would surely just mean a lot of unneeded drama for her.

Naruko was a slim, normal-sized 6-year old girl with curly, brown hair, wearing big glasses and she loved games and manga, though she supposed going to school mightn't be too bad even though she wouldn't get to play as much as she used to. She didn't really have any real friends yet, only some kids from the neighborhood occasionally playing with her, so she hoped to find some good friends at school whom she could play and discuss manga with.

Finally, she was done packing and delved back into the manga until her mother urged her to go to sleep for the day. She didn't dare resist.

Tomorrow was a big day after all.

* * *

Only the sounds of a pencil scratching across paper could be heard as a young girl with short, straight black hair sat at the desk in her small room, only a small lamp spending some light. It was already late at night but Tsurumi Chiriko simply couldn't sleep yet. The thought of going to school from now on certainly excited her though it was also a voyage into the unknown.

6-year old Chiriko was a rather calm character who liked to express herself through art. Though her drawings had never been masterpieces, they were still far from being sub-par, considering her age, and she was gradually getting better. Slowly, the white paper turned into a drawing of a huge building with many small people wearing happy smiles in front of it. The sun was literally smiling from the sky; it was a very cute drawing, Chiriko found. Would school look like she was envisioning it? Would it be a happy place with lots of things to learn and lots of friendly people to meet? The girl didn't know. Though, now that she'd finished the drawing, her mind was finally at ease and her last thought before her eyes fell shut was that she hoped for many art classes and nice teachers.

* * *

Atsumu Matsuyuki sat over a notebook, scribbling some cruddy words with his pen. Tomorrow, he would enter the first grade of elementary school, only the first step on a very long path at which end stood college and a nice shiny degree. Studying wasn't fun, granted, but seeing his father, a successful businessman, always gave him the motivation to work hard to improve his knowledge. The young boy with short, light brown hair, already knew how to write and read basic hiragana and katagana which would put him at a huge advantage right from the start. His handwriting still left much to be desired but it was a start. Surely teachers and pupils alike would admire him for his skills.

After a while, his father came home from a weekend business trip; it was already late and Atsumu was about to go to bed.

"Ah, young man, I see you're ready for school," the man said, looking at his son with a proud smile after examining the notebook's progress. "Keep working hard, you'll do great, Atsumu! And don't let anyone beat you in the tests once the teachers start giving them."

The boy wore a smug grin. "Of course, father, I'll definitely show them!"

"Yes, yes you will," his father said with a tired voice. "Though keep in mind that looking down on others is not the right path; you still need some loyal and influential friends after all."

"Sure, that should be obvious," the boy replied. After all, there was only so much fun to be had on one's one and it was obvious that one couldn't become an admirable person simply through academic success and effort. He supposed that having some friends to rely on mightn't be too bad after all.

"Well, if you excuse me, I'll head to bed now, you should do the same soon."

"Yes, father, I was about to sleep anyway," Atsumu answered with a smile. "Goodnight!"

Later, as he was lying on his bed all covered up by the sheets, the boy thought about the coming day. It'd be hard work from now on but he also had great expectations, both of himself and those who would be around him. It'd be a challenge he was more than willing to take, both being the best and making friends at school. Finally, his tiredness won over the determination keeping him awake and he fell asleep.

* * *

"Meiko, Meiko!"

The little girl was deep in thought, when a little toddler crowed her name, one of the few words he could already speak, as he waddled towards her with uncertain steps of someone who was only just getting the hang of it. The girl smiled at the little boy as she was playing around with her long, silken hair nervously.

"There, good boy," she said as she gave the little child a thorough headpat before he waddled back into the living room where her parents were watching TV. Absent-minded, she walked over to the mirror in her bedroom, a critical stare meeting her.

_"Will Meiko be alright? At school... are the other students going to like her? Even though... Meiko is different from them?"_Honma Meiko was conflicted about going to school tomorrow. A little shy, soft and quiet by nature, she was also an airhead most of the time. Her mother was a foreigner and she had inherited a lot of her looks which made her stand out with her long silken hair falling over her white summer dress up to slightly above her waist. Would the girl be alright? Meiko didn't know. She'd love to find a friend or two who shared her love in going outside to play, who didn't mind her many faults, who, maybe, even thought that she was cute, just a little? But Meiko wasn't that good with people so worries ate her up.

Soon, the sun went down and the soon-to-be 6-year old changed into her pajamas, going to sleep though sleep wouldn't come for some time…

* * *

***bling bling***

The sounds of a game playing rang from the bedroom of little Hisakawa Tetsudo . The small boy with very short hair and a goofy smile lay on his belly on his bed, engaged in his game, when his mother entered the room.

"Seriously, Tetsudo, you're going to school tomorrow and you are just playing games as always…"

"I don't wanna go to school, heeeh," the 6-year old boy grinned when he looked up from his portable device.

"Dear, you will have to," his mother half smiled, half frowned. "You'll end up staying little and stupid if you don't go."

"I know, I know, hehehe. I will go, don't worry," the boy promised with a goofy grin which he'd always wear.

"Good, in that case it is now bedtime for you, Tetsudo," his mother teased which earned her a foreseeable reaction.

"Aww no…" But upon his mother's strict stare, he gave in. "Okaaaay!" Quickly, he raced to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Just before falling asleep, his mother gave the boy a kiss on the forehead. Then, wearing a content smile, the little boy dozed off.

The women looked at her son with a slightly worried expression. Would he be a good student? Would he end up finding school to be worthwhile after all?

The six children were all sound asleep, occasionally shifting in their sleep. Little did they know that on the next day they would all end up in the same class...

* * *

**Before you read:**

**This is a little side project which I just started. LBT has long since ceased to be my main fandom. I've since gotten involved with anime a lot and this is will be a fanfiction based on one of my favourites: Ano Hana (Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai), english title: Ano Hana - The Flower We Saw That Day. Assuming the majority of my readers haven't seen it (which I can only recommend!), I will copy a little synopsis here so you know what the original story is roughly about. **

_**A group of six childhood friends, including Chiriko "Tsuruko" Tsurumi, Atsumu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki, Naruko "Anaru" Anjou, Tetsudō "Poppo" Hisakawa and Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi, drift apart after one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma , dies in an accident. Ten years after the incident, the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, has become withdrawn from society and lives as a recluse. One summer day, the ghost of an older looking Menma appears before him and asks to have a wish granted, reasoning that she cannot pass on into the afterlife until it is fulfilled. Since Menma does not remember what her wish is, Jinta gathers his estranged friends together once again, believing that they are the key to resolving this problem. However, hidden feelings, internal conflicts, and lingering feelings of bitterness from Menma's parents result in complications for the group as they struggle to help not only Menma move on, but themselves as well.**_

**In short, it is an emotional rollercoaster which deals with the theme of loss, regret and friendship. My story will alter the main storyline. Menma is going to survive the accident so the story will play during their childhood entirely, exploring an alternate reality where Menma never dies...**

**The story starts at the point where the group originally meets each other. The anime and the movie adaption only provide some information on the exact timeframe so I am assuming that they're just entering school here based on a statement which says that the main story happens 10 years after the accident. Okay, now you can read :)**

**After you read:**

**So I briefly introduced each character on the evening before their first day at school. Was a bit spontaneous as my original plan jumped right into the story but now I think a gradual build up of their friendship sounds like a better plan, yep yep yep :)**

**I hope that this story might find a reader or two here, I can certainly recommend the series this is based on!**

**Note: The characters have their normal names at first but are generally better known by the nicknames which they refer to among each other (they are the ones in " " in the synopsis)  
Note 2: Since this is based on a japanese anime, I will occasionally include commonly used japanese terms which are familiar to any half-dedicated anime watcher but might not be familiar to some of my regular readers. In this chapter, I used two of these. "Hai" means "yes" and "ikadakimasu" is commonly spoken at the table before eating in japanese culture.**


	2. just an update

**Just a heads up, after giving it some more thought, I've decided to approach this story a bit differently so I have to start all over. Please have some more patience, I'll delete the prologue I posted a while ago and upload my new approach once I've got a few chapters written (so I know whether it'll work out or not). Thanks for understanding :)**


End file.
